--------------------------------

Brownstone -- Basement Apt.

The basement of the brownstone has been split into two sections. The stairwell leads down into the northwest corner section, which contains the boiler room, furnace, and the elevator shaft. The rest has been converted into another apartment, and Signe's made it into a rather fortified one at that. The only entrance is through a re-enforced steel door with no less than three dead-bolts. There are absolutely no windows at all in any of the four concrete and brick walls. It's a rather stark but functional space. Overhead, the air ducts and plumbing pipes are exposed, while the cement floor is covered by a ragged dark wine and gold Oriental throw rug. A makeshift shelving unit of two-by-fours and cinder block has been erected along the length of the wall with the door, and it houses a stereo, tv and old vcr. Directly opposite this is a beat-up leather couch and two mismatched recliners. The kitchen is small but functional, with a round wooden table and four chairs. Half of the back end of the building has been walled off for a private bedroom, while the rest is open to the living area. This space has been converted into a home gym--complete with wrestling mats, weights, and a full weight boxing bag.

Obvious exits:

Out Bedroom

Emma looks to the pancakes and flips them over, finding the heavy silence to be almost overwhelming. "The Bridge street guys were talking about it, or other guys were talking about how the bridge street guys were talking about it?" she asks with a quiet tone.

Olga stays near the closed door, not even taking her shoes off, her face tense at the news she has to bring, and the Fostern's reaction to it. "Uh," she says, turning to Emma, trying to concentrate through the rattle of the punching bag, "well's hard to tell with Freebs. He said they're Brothers, but he wouldn' know. Could just be 'associates', y'know. They were dealing not far off. Who said what I don' know."

Signe puts a hand on the heavy bag to settle it down, though it doesn't look like the strike did much to calm the Get. Still, when she turns back to face Emma and Olga, she's collected enough to actually speak without growling. "I need you to find out, if you can, Olga. Find out everything you can. Who's talking, what they're saying, and where they are. Be cool about it. Don't bring suspicion on yourself, but at the same time, get everything you can."

The lift rattles; a few seconds later someone pounds on the door behind Olga.

Emma looks at the door as it is knocked upon, but doesn't leave her vigil from the cooking. The pancakes are taken off the pan, put onto a plate, and a second batch is started. "I thought people zoned out when they saw us like that. Thought that was the whole big thing behind the curse. How can they be rationally thinking we exist and loading up with silver?" Her tone is directed more to Olga, whom she thinks is a bit calmer and not so likely to lash out at her genuine question.

The sudden sound of the rattle pierces the tension of the room and nearly sends Olga's head through the roof, as she bounces up into the air like a kangaroo that's just had a cattle prod applied to its behind. All the same, once she's landed, she answers Signe smoothly, just as cool as the Get wants, except for her eyes which're a hair wider than they'd been beforehand. "Yeah, sure, Singe-rhya," she says obligingly, making sure to jam the honorific onto her name, ducking her head ingratiatingly towards her as she backs defensively away from the door. She looks towards Emma, then, considering her question, twitching her lips, but she doesn't answer just yet. Instead she looks at the door, unwilling to open it unprompted.

"Signe!" comes Nat's voice from behind the door - can Olga's day get any better? "Emma? Anyone home?" She raps again, but doesn't try the knob.

Signe moves instinctively toward the door when the knock comes. She was going to peer out to see who it is, but Nat's voice floats through before she gets there. The locks are thrown back without a look, and she opens the door for the galliard.

Emma lets out an exasperated sigh and stares at the pancakes. So much for a nice calm sunny, new moon morning. "Here Olga, eat these would you." A plate of pancakes is offered to the Gnawer first, only because Emma seems quite sure Signe's appetite is gone.

Olga's day just did get better, much. She's not about to argue with Emma and she finds some solace in the plate of pancakes, moving to it quickly and rounding the kitchen island to put it between herself and the new arrival, drawing the plate towards her and closing her fist tight around a fork. She looks up when Natalie enters, offering her a rather quiet, almost abashed "Hi Nat," before turning her attention to Emma and asking straight-faced, normal volume, "Any syrup?"

"Signe," Nat says, ducking her head in a nod as she comes through the door. "I just got back into town a couple hours ago? Did Megan call you?" Only then does she register the presence of the two other Garou; her chin comes up defensively on spotting the Gnawer. "Olga. --Emma, hey."

Signe's teeth clamp together in a grimace, jaw working. "I spoke with the alpha," she answers simply. Apparently she's not up to bigger explanations. Instead, she says asks the galliard, "What did she tell you, and what have you found out since?"

Emma gives Natalie a little bob of her head in greeting, then fetches the Gnawer some syrup. As much as Olga seeks to busy herself with eating, Emma seeks to busy herself with getting the Theurge fed. "Got chocolate sauce too. If you want." Her ears work to listen to the other conversation, even as her posture suggests she is minding her own business.

Olga is already cutting and chewing, doing her best to look quite innocent and oblivious to Nat's presence, except for the occasional glance up to make sure the two are still engaged in matters more significant than her. "Oh yeah, sure, Em," Olga says as she slathers on some syrup, "Le's try some of that, too. Make things interesting."

Natalie answers Signe, though her eyes are on the out-of-place Gnawer. "Said she wanted to take out the entire gang. I had Harold get Megan and me names of as many higher-ups in the bunch as possible. I brought the list over for you." She hesitates, then adds with a little nod toward Olga, "She wants to get the Gnawers involved too." She says this last very evenly, really.

Signe adds, "She wants everyone involved. She wants the Bridge Street Boys wiped off the face of the earth, and so do I." The Jarl holds her hand out to take the list Natalie says she has, then continues, "Nat, I'm sure Megan already told you, but everything you bring to me, bring to her first. I'm not sure I'm in charge of this anymore. Megan wants every pack in the city on this, plus the rangers if we need them. The next time we strike, there aren't going to be any more fuck ups."

Emma offers Olga the chocolate syrup a little absently, as she watches her packmates talk. She opens her mouth to say something, then stops all together and looks back down to Olga. Very quiet now, she speaks with the Gnawer. "I know silver is bad for us, but what does it do exactly?"

Olga gives a strange smile as Natalie nods towards her, half smirk and half sheepish grin. She certainly doesn't contribute to the conversation, just takes care of her very specific but still very important job of making sure the pancakes don't go to waste, tackling it with gusto and industry. She's on it like locusts on wheat, and it doesn't look like it'll last very long. At Emma's question Olga looks up, and her answer is even quieter than the question, she just pulls over the little tray of butter, looks at Emma significantly, dangles her knife, and lets it slide smoothly right on in. She adds, just in case that's not enough, "Ow."

Natalie blinks at Signe, her attention ripped from Olga, then says 'oh' and unzips her coat to root around in the inner pocket. "I asked her on Wednesday who was leading it; she said she wanted to talk to you first. Here you go." A folded sheet of paper is handed over to her Alpha. "All I know is that she was mad at us - you specifically, Havoc in general - and that she didn't want to hear options. She wants to wipe them all out. I got some information Friday..." Only here she stumbles to a halt, studying Signe ruefully. "--It's easier to find you than her."

Signe answers the last statement first, again between clenched jaw and gritted teeth, "Doesn't matter. As far as I know, I've been relegated to collecting names and information, and making sure Megan knows everything two seconds after we know it. When the strike comes, it will come at Megan's order. And she hasn't told me who will or won;t be leading it."

Emma lets out a soft sigh as she watches Olga handle the butter. "Right." She slinks in next to the Gnawer and lets out another disgruntled sigh, muttering a soft, for Olga's ears only, 'this sucks'.

Olga finishes off the last sopping bit of pancakes, dunking it in her mouth and then wiping her lips with the dirty sleeve of her jacket, not causing too much improvement. She glances quickly up to make sure Signe and Natalie aren't paying too close attention, and then she leans over to Emma, squeezes her shoulder, and mumbles out "I know." She plants a quick darting kiss on the crown of the girl's head when she stands up, and then again circuits the island, excusing herself with a quiet "I'm gonna go get started now, then, guys," and being very careful not to make any eye contact at all with the Glass Walker.

Natalie grimaces at Signe. "Well then. David says the place is buttoned up tight; there's plenty of armed men in the building, and most of it is civilians. He also says that a couple of the men aren't like you and me; neither does he think they're leeches, but there's something weird with them." She turns on one heel to find Olga no longer at the table and addresses the next to the Theurge. "Got it? Not Garou, not leeches, but something sure the hell isn't normal about them. The place is also crawling with silver. I'll say it again: if we'd wait a couple of months to let everything chill before we make our attack, they'd let their guard down and get sloppy."

Emma watches the old bag lady go, looks at the plates which, despite the earlier agreement, she knows she'll be cleaning up again, and gives a nod in farewell. When Natalie continues, Emma looks back to her packmates, "Yeah, but is Megan going to let us wait a couple months?"

Signe continues to scowl and grind down her own teeth, but for the moment the Get has nothing vocal to add to the discussion.

Olga asks dumbly, "Who's Da-" but stops halfway through, more eager to get out than to ask questions. The vagueness of that 'something' though halts her up, twists her lips, but after a second she continues on. "Yeah, well, we'll dig around," she promises instead, quietly, bobbing her head a little, trying to shimmy her way past everybody and sneak out the door. "See you guys," she calls out behind her as she finally reaches the door, yanks it open, and latches firmly on to her bag. "Bye Em."

Nat gets distracted from Olga by Emma's question; the Gnawer can take this moment free from the blazing loathing of Nat's eyes to flee. "No, probably not. But if I keep saying it enough times, maybe enough people'll hear it and convince her, huh?"

Signe adds, much quieter than usual. "I think she won't move until she knows everything. So it will depend on how long it takes us to learn 'everything'."

Emma doesn't say or do anything in response to that; she's been very good about minding the rules Signe set her last time they discussed this sort of thing. "Well, just tell me what you need me to do."

Natalie turns to shoot more eyebeams of death at Olga, only to find the door snicking closed behind the Gnawer. Her lips peel back from her teeth. "Why Megan thinks using that is going to be useful..."

Signe mumbles as she moves toward the kitchen. "Gnawers have their uses. Better them than me running through the garbage--human or otherwise--looking for clues."

Emma looks at Natalie as her friend gets badmouthed. She scowls a bit and her shoulders roll back in a defensive gesture. "That, as you put it, is someone that'd put her life down for me. You got issues with her, or them, in general, fine. But you talk about her like that in front of me..." she stops then, realizing she is coming just shy of making what sounds to be a threat, and adjusts her finish. "And it's gonna put bad blood between us."

"That's assuming that she doesn't decide that it's too hard, or too dangerous, and just not do it," Nat sneers, folding her arms over her chest and turning to follow Signe with her eyes. "Gnawers are nothing but Gaia's screw-ups..." Emma's little outburst brings Nat's chin up, her eyes fastened squarely on the younger Ahroun's. "Oh yeah? When's a Gnawer ever done anything out of her way? Yi's screwed up bigtime twice now - once protected by Megan, and now she's being protected by Olga, who doesn't even have the honor to admit Yi screwed up."

Signe settles in her chair, re-opening the lap top. Apparently, the earlier abuse hasn't damaged it any. It flickers and lights up right on que. Durable little thing. The Get Jarl doesn't look particularly worried or concerned with the building tension between Emma and Nat, and she instead concentrates on her web browsing. Offhandedly, she says, "Granted, as a tribe they can be useless pains in the ass a lot of times. But, I've known a lot of stand up Gnawers. Packed with many. Watched several die getting my back. Like Jose. Barlow always had my back, too. Kaz. Others."

Emma grits at her teeth, staring back at the Galliard. "Oh, yeah you're right. That's so horribly wrong. It'd almost be like a Walker protecting a mule breeding Gnawer. Imagine that!" She huffs angrily, "You guys aren't without your own faults. And ya know what? Your shit stinks too!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Nat demands, staring at Emma as though she's started babbling Greek. "Since when doesn't a Get care about honor? You gonna join the Gnawers now, since they're so great? I'll put it to you flat, Emma, since you seem to need it: Yi screwed up. Twice. Olga doesn't care. Olga couldn't keep her word if she promised to put on clothes in the morning."

Signe looks between the two, but for now has little or nothing to add. She's said her peace. She lets the two of them work it out. Her eyes return to the laptop.

Emma grows quickly frustrated, slamming a palm down on the counter. "I've SEEN Olga keep her word. I've seen her act with honor. Olga's proven herself to me. You don't have to like her, I don't care what blinders you wanna live your life with. Just don't talk shit about her in front of me, alright? For fucks sake." She growls aloud and moves towards the door then, "Whatever."

Natalie retorts, "I'll talk truth about her. Gnawers are scum until proven otherwise. Those two've gone out of their way to prove that they are." She doesn't give ground, but doesn't try to intercept the young Get either.

Signe doesn't either, but she does watch as Emma leaves, telling her, "Meet me by the park tonight, Emma. I don't want us patrolling unless we're together."

Nat keeps quiet once Emma's left; several breaths are taken in and let slowly out again before she trusts herself to speak rationally. "--So. Signe."

Signe looks up from the laptop to catch the galliard's gaze. Her color is oddly pale, and the ahroun is a little thinner than Natalie might remember, but otherwise she seems to have healed from all of her escapades. The Get gestures to the chair next to hers.

Natalie joins the Get, perching on the edge of the chair and pointedly not looking at the laptop screen. "--How does everything go from great to shitty in less than a week?"

Signe answers with a wry smirk. "I get jumped by six guys, because I wasn't paying enough attention to my own patrol," she says, and it seems like she means it. "In other words, I fucked up. Big time."

Natalie returns the smirk, just as wry. "Yeah, well, then I failed to run and tattle on you to the Sept Alpha soon as I found out. So there's my screw up. Scratch... he ran off on his Chim last Monday. Haven't seen him since."

Signe's eyes widen. "What?" she asks, surprised. "Doesn't seem like him to just skip out."

"Said the idea of working for two months and following basic rules was shit," Nat agrees glumly. "Not in so many words, but that's what he meant. I dunno, Signe. If he can't stick to something even that long, do we even want him in Havoc?"

Signe looks disappointed, frustrated, and irritable. She gives a simple shrug of her shoulder. "We need numbers, though. Fighters. The three of us aren't going to cut it much longer."

Nat says, "I know. That's - that brings up something else I've been thinking about for a bit." She places her hands on her knees, carefully adjusting their arrangement until she can see all ten of her nails. "Cutting back on territory. If it is just going to be the three of us - four, with Gunnar - I don't know if we can really hold what we've claimed. We might want to concentrate on just around this place."

Signe agrees. "I've already cut back. I also want to rearrange when we patrol, and how. Mix it up, so none of us are ever alone, and none of us ever really follow the same pattern. It will go a long way in helping us be more anonymous as well as preventing another set ambush. They won't be able to know exactly when we'll be any one particular place."

"So what's our new territory?" Nat wonders, eyebrows going up at the news. "And with only three of us - or four - that doesn't make for much, um... anonymity. Sounds to me like you want us to be a bit more discreet for a bit, until this gang-thing blows over, huh?"

Signe nods, a vague and slightly reluctant shrug to her shoulder. "Everything north of us is fairly safe," she says, "so we'll concentrate around here, and towards the water. Makes sense. As for 'discrete', yeah. For now."

"I can do that," says the Galliard, pushing herself to her feet. "I think it's a good idea. Maybe not the most glorious, but chock full of wisdom." She offers her Alpha another wry, self-deprecating smirk. "I'll call Megan and tell her what David told me on Friday. You wanna try tackling Scratch, maybe? Get his side of things?"

Signe offers another wry smile, soured at the edges. The Get is obviously still pissed and disgruntled over the entire situation, but she also seems resigned. She nods to Natalie's comment. "Thanks."

Natalie drops the Get a nod. "And you, Signe-rhya. We'll pull through. No retreat, right?" Another half of a smirk and she's pulling up her coat's zipper and heading for the door.

Signe grunts out a half-amused laugh. "Not for me," she rasps out, getting up to see the Walker to the door.

[End of log]